When my wife of 38 years in the summer of 2012 unexpectedly informed me that "she no longer wished to be married" I was totally blindsided and unprepared to handle that development. We lived in Lake Geneva, WI, but we co-owned a business in Chicago. I was so shocked that I was not thinking clearly an...d despite the aggregate counsel of many friends and colleagues I did not retain an attorney and represented myself in court. Bad idea ! I gave her EVERYTHING she asked for (my income was relatively significant back then) and without realizing it I agreed to a "non-modifiable" decree. Another bad move ! I had not anticipated that in 2014 my business would hit hard times and sales decreased precipitously. An employee was going to have to be laid off and I couldn't do that to them so I decided to sell the place to my sons who worked for me and fire myself ! They pay me monthly and I turn around and send most of that sum to their mother in the form of spousal maintenance. Unfortunately I agreed to a 10 year deal and the last 5 years would see an increase from $2384 per month to $4000 per month ! Considering my current income is not much more than that it simply would not have been possible. Also, agreeing to a non-modifiable precluded the possibility of lowering my obligation. It was obvious I needed an attorney. My regular Chicago lawyer is not licensed to practice in Wisconsin, so I needed to find one who was. I went on the internet and checked out some in the area and I was pretty much just throwing darts. BULLSEYE !!! I called Probst Law Offices because of their free initial consultation offer and was called back the same morning by attorney Lindsey White. Wow, that was my lucky day ! Lindsey patiently listened to my story and was immediately assuring that we would be able to improve my situation. Despite my stupid non-modifiable maneuver, Lindsey creatively negotiated my remaining 5 year obligation from $240,000 to a lump sum settlement of $150,000 ! So, right out of the gate I'm $90k better off. It gets better...she devised a plan in which I could transfer the $150k from one of my retirement accounts to my former wife's IRA and consequently save me thousands of dollars in taxes. I thought this was too good to be true...until earlier this week when we all converged in court and the deal was officially signed...what a relief !!!
Lindsey White could not possibly have pleased me any more than she did. She was always accessible and her assistant Mariana was also very helpful during the process. There were occasions when Lindsey would email me with updates and the time stamp would be very late in the evening. This impressed me greatly. That shows dedication beyond the call. Lindsey has a delightful and kind demeanor that truly makes the stressful parts of the divorce odyssey much easier to navigate. Owning a business in Chicago for decades, I obviously dealt with many professionals and of course their competence was the most important factor in the relationship but I must say that some of them were not particularly likeable and/or pleasant to deal with. That's not the case with Lindsey White ! She's a really nice lady who has great empathy for her client and she makes the client feel that their case is high priority to her and she will work hard for them. That was certainly the case for me. I would recommend her to anyone in the market for a Wisconsin divorce attorney with total confidence they would thank me afterward !